One of our club members made the comment that he “intends to buy & read The First Wife regardless of the outcome of the voting.”
This makes us so happy! We always love when you join us in reading the monthly books, but we also hope you are inspired to read some of the other books too. We do & have found some real gems while also expanding our bookshelves to include more global reads.
Mozambican Food
Before we get to the results of the vote, let’s talk food. Here’s a cookbook which I was thrilled to discover after realizing I adored one of the co-author’s other cookbooks.*
“Grandmothers from eight eastern African countries welcome you into their kitchens to share flavorful recipes and stories of family, love, and tradition in this transporting cookbook-meets-travelogue.
‘Their food is alive with the flavors of mangoes, cinnamon, dates, and plantains and rich with the history of the continent that had been a culinary unknown for much too long.’ —Jessica B. Harris, food historian, & journalist
In this incredible volume, East African chef Hawa Hassan and renowned food writer Julia Turshen present 75 recipes and stories gathered from bibis (or grandmothers) from eight African nations: South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Eritrea. Most notably, these eight countries are at the backbone of the spice trade, many of them exporters of things like pepper and vanilla.
With evocative photography shot on location, In Bibi’s Kitchen uses food to teach us all about families, war, loss, migration, refuge, and sanctuary.”
*Curious about that other cookbook I mentioned above written by one of the co-authors?
It’s this unique read which showcases recipes for breads from around the world along with traditional recipes for main dishes & accompaniments served with the bread.
The recipes come from an award-winning nonprofit bakery based in NYC which “employs & empowers immigrant women, providing them with the skills to succeed in the culinary industry. The tasty corollary of this social enterprise is a line of authentic recipes you won’t find anywhere else. Featured in some of NYC’s best restaurants & carried in dozens of retail outlets across the country, these ethnic gems can now be made at home.”
BUT WHAT BOOK DID THE GROUP PICK TO READ NEXT?
A finalist for the Man Booker International Prize & shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award
“A dark, poetic mystery about the women of the remote village of Kulumani and the lionesses that hunt them.
Told through two haunting, interwoven diaries, Mia Couto's Confession of the Lioness reveals the mysterious world of Kulumani, an isolated village in Mozambique whose traditions and beliefs are threatened when ghostlike lionesses begin hunting the women who live there.
Mariamar, a woman whose sister was killed in a lioness attack, finds her life thrown into chaos when the outsider Archangel Bullseye, the marksman hired to kill the lionesses, arrives at the request of the village elders. Mariamar's father imprisons her in her home, where she relives painful memories of past abuse and hopes to be rescued by Archangel. Meanwhile, Archangel tracks the lionesses in the wilderness, but when he begins to suspect there is more to them than meets the eye, he starts to lose control of his hands. The hunt grows more dangerous, until it's no safer inside Kulumani than outside it. As the men of Kulumani feel increasingly threatened by the outsider, the forces of modernity upon their traditional culture, and the danger of their animal predators closing in, it becomes clear the lionesses might not be real lionesses at all but spirits conjured by the women themselves.
Both a riveting mystery and a poignant examination of women's oppression, Confession of the Lioness explores the confrontation between the modern world and ancient traditions to produce an atmospheric, gripping novel.”
(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)